Needle-valve.



F. L. ORDWAY.

' NEEDLE VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, 1910.

.997506 PatentedJulylLlQll.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c6" wAsnlNflToN, D. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED LEON ORDWAY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

NEEDLE-VALVE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED LEON ORDWAY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and aresident of Portland, in the county of Cumberland, Stateof Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inNeedle-Valves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to needle valves such as are used on vapor burnersand it relates particularly to needle valves adapted to be used on thepilot flame of a gasolene automobile burnersuch as are used in steamautomobiles and in other like situations. These pilot burners commonlyhave a vapor discharge opening in which the vapor supply is regulated bya needle of smaller diameter than the opening forming an annular spacefor the discharge of the vapor. Any deposit of carbon on the needleitself or in the opening cuts down the area of the opening materiallyand it thus becomes difiicult to keep the opening of the right size toproduce a blue flame in the pilot.

The object of my invention is to throttle the vapor discharge opening bya needle which extends through the rear end of the valve casing andwhich is capable of being accurately adjusted by meansoutside of thecasing.

I illustrate my invention by the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1is a central vertical section taken longitudinally through a vaporburner provided with my throttling needle, Fig. 2- is a plan of thesame, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing a modified form of meansfor holding the needle, and Fig. 4 is a like section showing aprotecting housing for the exposed portion of the needle.

In the drawing referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A represents a casing such asis generally used for such burners, the casing having a vapor nozzle aprovided with a vapor discharge opening a through which the vapor passesto the pilot or other burner and b r epresents the inlet pipe.

For the purpose of throttling the vapor at the discharge outlet, Iemploy a needle 0, the point of which lies normally in the opening a.The construction of the device is such that the needle extends throughthe rear portion of thecasing to a point outside of the casing where itcan be directly manipulated by a pair of pliers or other grippingdevice, a cam surface being preferably Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 14, 1910.

Patented July 11, 1911.

Serial No. 543,776.

supplied to act as a bearing for the end of the pliers in withdrawingthe needle as hereinafter shown. f

In the construction which I prefer to use, the needle is extendedrearward through a screw plug which gives access to the interior of theburner. As herein shown a screw plug 03 has a valve seat (2 in theinterior of the burner with a hexagonal portion 0Z to receive a wrenchThe rear end of the plug is screw threaded and contains a gland recessin which is a gland f and a suitable packing ring 7. The gland is heldin place by a screw cape which fits on the rear end of the screw plug (Zand the needle 0 passes centrally through the plug, the gland and thescrew cap emerging at the rear end of.

the latter and extending a considerable distance in the rear so that itcan be readily grasped by a gripping tool as the pliers 9.

For the purpose of providing a bearing for the nose of the pliers togradually with draw the needle, I form a cam surface 6 on the rear endof the cap 6, the surface being so formed that when the pliers areturned with the needle as an axis while grasping the needle, the latterwill be gradually drawn back. The cam surface is concave and generallycylindrical, that is, it has its most depressed portion substantiallystraight in one direction, the surface each side of the straight portioninclining rearwardly. Thus the nose of the pliers, being held againstthe surface and turned or twisted will be forced to the rear. As hereshown, the needle is grasped by the pliers as shown in Fig. 1, the endsof the pliers rest-ing against the concave cylindrical surface 6'.

Upon being turned with the needle as an axis, the needle is withdrawnfrom its original position. When the needle, is to be forced inwardlythe rear end is seized by the pliers and forced directly in, the camsurface 6' serving as a stop to limit the inward motion. It will thus beseen that the needle may be moved in or out and accurately regulated bythe use of apair of pliers the point of .the needle throttling thedischarge opening and thus accurately regulatingthe vapor supply and theflame. Instead of using apair of pliers or other detachable clampingdevice, I may employ a fixed handle secured to the needle cooperatingwith the cam surface to adjust the needle. In Fig. 3 is shown such anarrangement in which it is a housing corresponding to the part 6 in Fig.1 except it is cylindrical in shape with a cap shaped handle 2' securedto the rear end of the needle and having a flange fitting over the partit and a cam surface cooperating with the cam surface 72/ on the part71. The handle 2' may be grasped by a pair of pliers and turned tocontrol the needle or it may be manipulated by hand. The needle in thisform of device is protected and at the same time a handle is formed foroperating it.

In Fig. 4 is shown a housing by which the exposed portion of the needleis protected. In this figure j is the cam cap and 75 is a tubularhousing engaging a screw threaded recess formed in the end of the camcap My needle valve may be applied to the pilot burner as stated or tothe main vapor supply or to any needle valve through which vapor isdelivered. The small size of the gland which fits the needle properrenders it easy to keep tight as it decreases the area subjected topressure.

It is evident that the needle may be held in the casing otherwise thanby the means here shown and that it may be directly manipulated withoutthe use of a cam surface.

The device is cheaply made, easily regulated and easily made tight andthe needle may be readily and quickly replaced.

I claim 1. In a needle valve, the combination of a valve casing having adischarge opening, and a needle for throttling said opening andextending through the rear portion of said casing to the outsidethereof, said valve having a concave cylindrical cam surface ad jacentto the point where the needle emerges from the casing and so formed asto act as a bearing for a detachable gripping tool.

2. In a needle valve, the combination of a valve casing having a vapordischarge opening therein, a screw plug in the rear portion of saidcasing having a gland recess, gland in said gland recess, a screw cap onthe rear end of said plug adapted to hold said gland in place, and aneedle for throttling said vapor discharge opening, said needleextending through said plug, gland and cap, said cap having a cam sur'face adjacent to the point where the needle emerges to act as a bearingfor a gripping device.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of February,1910.

FRED LEON ORDIVAY. lVitnesses S. IV. BATES, ELEANOR IV. DENNIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

